


Mark on the world

by Zombieheroine



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, Blind Character, Blind Soldier: 76 | Jack Morrison, Canon Compliant, Friendship, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort/Hurt, Love/Hate, M/M, Physical Trauma, Relationship Study, painful memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 12:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12507300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zombieheroine/pseuds/Zombieheroine
Summary: Jack and Ana are tracking Reaper in hopes of reaching out or just taking responsibility for their former friend and his actions, or maybe just hoping to get some answers.One morning news about a prison break reach them and they learn that a formidable figure has returned to the ranks of Talon, someone they didn't quite expect. Some old bad blood is brought up, and Jack has a feeling that Gabriel is just trying to hurt him. Is that all what's left of what they had?





	Mark on the world

**Author's Note:**

> I have sat on this idea ever since Doomfist was revealed. I caught some serious feels back then, and they were only amplified when the video dropped and even more when he was put in the game. By the time I actually got to writing this we also had the comic issue and that made it into the frame here as well. So here they are, my feelings about various dynamics condensed into a story!
> 
> To those who don't know, [this](https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20877886) is the news article. 
> 
> As always, big thanks to zinteyro for beta-reading.  
> You can yell at me on my [tumblr](http://zombieheroine.tumblr.com/).

There was a new article on the board. Jack found it by touch since he couldn’t see it, and he instantly knew it was something bad because it had simply appeared there without Ana saying anything about it. He stood there in front of the board with a cup of instant coffee in one hand while the other felt the edges of the fresh newspaper clipping, inspecting its size and pondered what was so terrible about it that Ana had decided to protect him from it for an hour or so longer. 

Jack couldn’t really bring himself to blame Ana for the effort for his sake, but he did feel a bit annoyed. The gesture felt a bit patronizing, as if he hadn’t already seen worse or couldn’t possibly prepare for whatever it was. He took a sip of his bitter coffee and traced the edges of the clipping. It was a rather large clipping and placed near the middle of the board so something major must had gone down, something relevant. Jack felt the familiar dread and forbade himself from speculating too much; tracking Reyes involved no good news, ever. There was no use in worrying about it twice.

Jack took another sip of his coffee. The artificial sweetener almost took care of the lack of milk in it and made it drinkable – not that Jack really cared for the taste but the burn of black coffee wasn't something he exactly enjoyed. Otherwise it was almost cozy here in Necropolis, with small comforts like something sweet in his coffee and the warmth Ana’s presence brought to the grim place, and even the cellar-like scent of the cool temple had become something Jack enjoyed. It was one of the nicer bases he had been posted in, but in this particular room he felt a different kind of cold, something that had nothing to do with the actual temperature. 

Ana and Jack hadn’t even needed to talk about going after Reyes. The moment they were certain who the infamous Reaper actually was it was given that they would go after him, of course they would. They were a team, all three of them, no matter the time, distance and things between them, and both felt partially responsible. Another thing they had never talked about was what they would do when they’d finally confront Reyes, and Jack had a distinct feeling that Ana didn’t want to hear what he had to say about it.

Someone would have to do it. Might as well be Jack.  
Tracking Reaper wasn’t easy but they were making progress. The situation was made extremely challenging by the fact that even though Jack and Ana easily possessed the most extensive experience possible in this field, Reyes had been with them through it all, and he knew everything they knew and had invented some of it too. Reaper being Reyes fit remarkably well, after all it explained why he had managed to stay as a ghost for so long and so successfully. Jack had to confess to some personal unease at the realization that tricks and protocols made for protecting him, his agents and his companions were now used against him. On the flip side it also forced him and Ana get creative and evolve even further in their area of expertise, something he hadn’t expected to do in his old age. Some dark and hungry part of his psyche felt something akin to gratitude when facing a challenge like this. 

Jack traced the clipping over and over again even though there was nothing more his fingertips could tell him, just that it was a newspaper article, rather large one and placed closer to the center of the board. He sipped his coffee and let his hand fall to his side and told himself to wait. It was something he had gotten used to in recent years, the waiting, because his body had made him to. If he couldn’t feel, hear or smell his way out of something he either had to give up on it or wait for help, and this limit put breaks on his everyday life almost daily, forcefully teaching him patience. Nowadays he didn't really mind it now that it was Ana he was waiting on, but he still wished she wouldn't consider his feelings this much.

Ana’s presence was easy for him to detect even when he couldn't hear her. She seemed to occupy space in a way that made the humid air move around her, and Jack became aware of her approaching presence before her footsteps on the stone floor gave her away, and now like always he turned towards the staircase to wait for her. A few seconds passed and then he heard soft shuffling steps on the floor, and a moment later Ana stepped into the room holding a mug of her own, the spoon ringing against the porcelain. 

“Good morning,” Ana greeted him. 

Jack pointed at the board behind him. “What’s the new article about?”

Ana gave a noncommittal hum and kept stirring the drink in her mug as she walked closer before stopping by Jack’s side. He could smell the strong coffee from her. “It’s a new Reaper sighting,” Ana said, simply and yet too grim to have told the whole story.

“Where?” Jack asked.

“Numbani.”

“Huh,” Jack said, nodding. He drank the last of his coffee and kept his face turned towards Ana, his brows raised and an expectant look on his face. They both knew what this was about, and now it was up to Ana to stop playing games and spit out the news. 

Ana sighed and took a long sip from her coffee, stepping past Jack and in front of the board. Jack turned and joined her, and when the silence between them continued he reached for the board and tapped the fresh clipping. 

“What’s he doing in Numbani then?” Jack asked. “It’s a long article we've got here.”

“Mm-hm,” Ana said and sighed again. “Talon activity. A prison break.” 

“Oh?” Jack said and frowned in Ana’s direction. No continuation came, and Jack became impatient. “Ana. I appreciate your kindness, but just spit it out already.”

Ana hummed, a slight of pity in her tone. “Well, it’s very simple and very clear. Talon struck to free one of their formidable leaders. They are getting rather bold, I’m afraid.” 

Jack didn’t make further questions, just waited for the other to continue.

“The leader is the reason why the article is so extensive, Reaper is merely a passing mention in it. He was the pick-up, he just is such a noticeable character nowadays…” Ana said, huffing to herself. “We must be even more careful in the future, Jack, as now Akande Ogundimu has returned to their ranks.” 

Jack turned away from Ana and towards the board, instinctively reaching out to the article again even though he couldn’t read it now any more than he could before. Despite all his defenses and all that he had been through, Jack felt a lump in his throat blocking his airways and he swallowed hard around it, trying to force it back down. “Is that so,” he managed to say despite the strangling feeling. “That’s not good. If Talon wasn’t already up to something big, they sure are now.” 

“Jack – “ Ana started, her voice soft and urgent, but then suddenly stopped herself. She seemed to change her mind about something and continued with her professional tone: “True. We certainly have other things to look out for now, and who knows what we’ll come across. Reaper is close with Talon at the moment, and I don’t think he’s merely a no-strings-attached mercenary. There’s something there for him, personally.” 

“I agree,” Jack said. He rubbed his stubbly cheek with his hand, furiously thinking. “If there’s something for him, there might be something for us as well. The truth about Overwatch, maybe... Some answers. We always knew Talon had a hand in the fall, but maybe there’s actually something concrete there… Something that's still ongoing.”

Ana made a thoughtful noise, not entirely agreeing but not disagreeing either. “Or he might be in it just to hurt us.” 

“Well he’s managed that for a good while now, don’t you think?” Jack said, not able to keep the bitterness that had nothing to do with his coffee from straining his voice.

*

Despite having been sitting down for hours by now Ana couldn’t quite catch her breath. The hospital’s vinyl sofa provided little comfort for her, and she sat leaning her elbows on her knees and held a paper cup with cold coffee in her hands between them. She still felt oddly trembly, and by now she had to admit to herself that all of it couldn’t be of exhaustion after the mission. People rushed past her, doctors and nurses busy on their duty, no one sparing even a glance for a slumping soldier waiting for someone to give her news. 

When another doctor with papers in his hand rushed what looked like towards her, making her heart skip and her knees buckle, but then passing by without a glance Ana slumped back against the back of the sofa and let out a suffering sigh. She checked the time again and concluded that it had only been fifteen minutes since the last time. While taking reluctant sips of her cold coffee she took her phone out and tried to call Gabriel, but again reached just the voice mail, just like the previous ten times. 

Jack had been under the knife for hours by now and there had been no news about his state the entire time. Ana tried to tell herself that it was because he was just fighting that hard, too stubborn to just die there on an ordinary surgeon's table, but she couldn’t lie to herself well enough to close out the thought that no news meant that he wasn’t stable either. 

A part of the unease Ana felt was guilt: she was a sniper, the back-up, the guardian of her team, and today she had let them down. After arriving at the hospital she had washed up in the bathroom a bit, wiped her face and washed her hands of blood and dust, but still she felt dirty like Jack’s blood had seeped through her skin and left a stain water and soap couldn’t cleanse. 

The coffee in the disposable paper cup made her gag when she tried to drink it, but she forced it down anyway. It felt like she had to do something, she had to move somehow, to at least drink or eat something as if to pass the time. She knew that if she didn't she'd eventually start to pace, her mind would go to unhelpful places and she would start to bother the staff, and besides being useless she would also misrepresent Overwatch. 

She kept herself together the best she could, but had hours ago given up on her appearance. She had opened her jacket, taken off her beret and stuffed it into her pocket, and let her black hair down from its bun. The smell of gun-powder and cement dust had stuck in her hair, lingering around her and keeping the scene playing over and over in her mind. 

Jack was fast and smart on his feet, and even the pulse-rifle looked light in his strong hold as he handled it with ease that comes only with experience. He was an efficient, true leader who held his team together and aimed the attack exactly like where it was needed, and Ana had watched this familiar scene play out through her scope as she watched out for incoming threats from afar.  
Following things through her rifle's scope was a bizarre combination of feeling very close while actually being very far, and it was through the scope that she watched Doomfist charge gauntlet first towards Jack, catch up with him and send him flying until he slammed into a wall. 

Ana took in a shrill gasp of air and suppressed an instinctive reaction to reach out to Jack who in reality was three hundred feet too far for her, and so she just watched, helpless. She watched the concrete cracking around the spot where Jack’s body had slammed to, the pulse-rifle slipping from his hand and from his arms that weren’t looking quite right anymore, and continued to watch as his strangely bent body slumped from the dent it had left into the wall and dropped to the ground. 

Up in her nest Ana felt light-headed while her heart was hammering like a frightened rabbit's, and distantly a rational part of her mind remarked she must have gone into shock even though her training kept her body moving on autopilot. Her mind was ringing with the white noise of panic, but her aim was still true and she fired three fast shots between Jack and Doomfist, forcing the hostile to back off. She couldn’t tell if Jack was already dead or if Doomfist was just about to deal the finishing blow, but the protocol was clear on unclear situations such as this and even if it wasn't Ana would still give her all to protect Jack. She reloaded her rifle and kept on firing, forcing the hostile further back and to dodge among a pile of wrecked cars. 

On the moment Jack had dropped the chain of command had shifted. Ana knew this, it was routine and her body went through the motions with ease. She switched her comm line to the mission control, reported the development and requested backup, then switched back to the team channel and ordered: “Lieutenant Lee! Retrieve Captain Morrison and pull back towards the ship! Backup is on its way!”

“Roger, Captain!” 

Ana stayed up in her nest and made sure the team could rescue and retreat, and only then did she gather her equipment and retreat as well. On the way back to the ship she crossed paths with Winston, Genji and Lena coming in to fill in for them. 

“He’s still alive, Captain,” Winston said to her as they ran past each other, and Ana had the time to give him a grateful glance before he jumped ahead to clear the path for his strike team. 

All field agents were trained in first aid but there was very little anyone could do for Jack in his condition, and it seemed that the only thing their training gave them was the knowledge that moving him in haste had been bad. The medic cut him out of most of his uniform as well as the heavy, now dented bodyarmour under his jacket, revealing grotesque bruising and bumps where broken bones jutted under the skin, and it seemed like his entire torso was turning blue and purple. There were few open wounds to put pressure to, and all they could do was to make him a bit more comfortable and move his broken limbs as little as possible. They couldn't turn him on his side with all the damage done, and so Ana supported his head against her thigh to help his struggling breath as much as possible. It wasn't much and she felt hopelessly useless beside him, but it was enough as Jack kept taking breath after breath even if his gaze was unfocused and he seemed to slip in and out of consciousness. 

When the emergency transport finally arrived and paramedics got Jack onto a stretcher and on the move, Ana went with him. 

Now she was still sitting at the hospital with her fifth cup of coffee, still waiting for the news. Her only comfort was that their backup team had succeeded in taking down Doomfist and he was currently under arrest, the gauntlet was confiscated and their other agents were all alive and stable, the situation successfully taken care of. If Ana wasn’t in such a state of shock and fearing for the life of her close friend she would have taken time to be proud of their young recruits and the promise they held for the future, but that would have to wait for later. 

That was, if Jack survived the operation. 

The mere thought felt like a bucket of ice water over her and she quickly forced her thoughts away. It was useless to entertain such dark thoughts now, there was nothing she could do about it anyway, and whatever the future held would be dealt with when the time came. If Jack pulled through, as she hoped and prayed he would, they could all sigh in relief and celebrate… And if he were to pass away, well, then they would grieve. But only then would they grieve. 

The strange timeless space of the hospital corridor was no place for that, and even though the wait felt endless she would have to just pull herself together and deal with it. 

Gabriel had to be notified, Ana thought anxiously for the hundredth time and pulled out her cell. He would want to be here, he _needed_ to be here, but when Ana called him the phone just rang and rang, each individual toot raking on her nerves.

“Ana!” yelled a familiar voice. 

Ana sat up straight on her seat and it took her a second to process that her cell was still ringing and the voice was coming from somewhere else, and when she turned to look around she finally spotted Gabriel in the far end of the corridor, still wearing his dark blue uniform trousers but instead of a matching top he had his gray sweatshirt and over that his old leather jacket. He had clearly just spotted Ana and immediately dashed towards her, sprinting through the corridor, and the closer he got the more clearly Ana saw his upset: he was sweaty and his eyes were wide open with pure fear, an expression that made him look younger and frailer than Ana had thought possible for a man of his age and size. She slowly got up from her seat to receive him.

“Ana,” Gabriel called as he got closer, his sprint slowing into a jog and then stumbling to a stop before in the same breath he asked: “How is he?!” 

“Still in surgery,” Ana calmly replied. “He’s been there for the past four hours. I have not received any updates of his situation, good or bad.”

Gabriel fidgeted on his place, his hands tugging at the sleeves of his jacket and he nodded. “Okay. Yeah, okay… I was… There was a meeting and no one gave me the news before it was done, no cell phones allowed, you know? I came as soon as I could, damn…” 

Ana had suspected something like that but let Gabriel ramble on with his explanations since it seemed to be important for him to get it out there. He swayed on his feet and combed his hand through his hair as he glanced around him, his eyes darting around the corridor as if the walls could speak and give him news, and his voice came out trembling and occasionally stuck to his throat. 

Ana extended a kind hand towards him, touched his elbow and gestured at the vinyl seats. “Take a breath, Gabriel. You’re here now, and you’ll be the first one to know of any changes. Sit down, I’ll fetch you something to drink. Or are you hungry? There was a café downstairs, we’ll be here for a while – “

Gabriel almost collapsed down on the sofa as soon as the suggestion came but he waved at the suggestion of food. “I’ll take the drink, whatever you get me,” he said before putting his face to his hands and folding onto himself on the sofa. 

Ana regarded him for a second and reckoned he wasn’t about to move anywhere for a while. He rather looked like his legs had finally given out and that the only thing that could possibly make him move were news of Jack, and so Ana gently brushed the top of his head before heading to the other end of the corridor and the vending machines. 

She ended up ordering from the hot drink vending machine since Gabriel looked like he could really use something warm, but he didn’t need caffeine tremors and he hated tea, so she settled on hot chocolate. She hadn’t ever seen Gabriel drink hot chocolate but trusted it to be a drink impossible to hate, and most importantly it was hot. She watched the brown take-away cup filling up, and the comforting sweet scent of the drink made her decide to order one for herself too. 

When she got back with the drinks Gabriel was even more collapsed on himself, his forehead resting on his knees and his hands tightly against his chest. She wondered if he was praying. 

“Here you go. Something to warm you up,” Ana gently said as she sat down next to him and offered him the cup. 

Gabriel pulled himself up with a pained grunt and accepted the drink with mute nodded thanks. He didn’t make a comment of Ana's choice of drink, just raised it straight to his lips and took a gulp that probably scorched his mouth. 

“Did you see it happen?” Gabriel suddenly asked. He almost sounded like himself, professional and calm, but his voice was still struggling and ended up sounding rough. 

Ana was surprised at the flush of shame she felt at the question as if she had brought them here with her personal failure even though she knew it wasn’t her fault and that Gabriel didn't blame her. She swallowed around a lump in her throat and nodded. “Yes, through my scope. It was just one blow and he went down, too fast for anyone to really do anything.” She bit her tongue before she had the time to add ‘sorry’. 

Gabriel made a choked-back noise and shook his head slowly in disbelief. “Just one hit? One hit and a super-soldier went down?”

Ana nodded grimly. “I was surprised too. He charged and Jack didn’t have time to react. He hit a wall too, so that probably amplified the effect.” Only when the words left her mouth did she realize how bad they sounded, especially now when they hadn’t heard any news from the surgery. She had played the scene in her head over and over again during the past four hours, but this was most likely the first time Gabriel even heard of it, and she regretted her words now. “He didn’t bleed that much when we got him out of there and he was conscious on the transport too,” she added in hopes of softening the blow. 

Gabriel took the hopeful bait and nodded along, one hand rubbing at the side of his face. “Yeah, that's a good sign... A good thing... right? I mean, Jackie's strong, he'll fight. He'll make it.” His voice faded until he was mumbling to himself, and then took the paper cup to his lips to silence himself. 

When he lowered the cup again it was empty, and his features were oddly blank. He was staring at a spot on the floor, unblinking, and his hands were slowly creasing the cup into a ball. 

Then he shook his head. “He can't die,” he whispered. “He can't. He can't do it to me, no. No.”

Ana reached over and settled a hand on Gabriel's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “They would have told us if he had taken a turn for the worse. He's fighting. Just wait.”

Gabriel didn't show any signs of having heard her, just kept shaking his head, eyes unfocused and watery and the remains of the paper cup rustling in the grip of his hands. “I can't lose him, I just can't... Please, God, he can't leave me like this...” 

“We have to wait,” Ana said, firmer now and his hold on Gabriel's shoulder turned into a grip. “Nothing is certain, and nothing has happened yet. Do what you will, hope for the best, pray, or whatever, but do not give up on him.”

Gabriel blinked tears from his eyes and threw her an anxious glance. His distress and helplessness made him look boyish even with the worry lines on his face. He visibly swallowed whatever else he had been about to say, and Ana coaxed her own spirit high in order to give Gabriel something to lean on. 

“Just wait for now. I'll stay here with you as long as it takes,” she assured him, and using her firm grip on his shoulder pulled him down to rest against her shoulder. At first Gabriel felt stiff and he was shivering slightly, but when he finally allowed himself to relax against her he let out a shuddering sigh. He pressed his cheek against her shoulder and Ana rested her hand on top of his head. They stayed like that, silent within their own bubble as the hospital life kept going through its motions around them. 

Gabriel drifted off occasionally, Ana could tell from the way his breathing deepened and his body slumped against her side, limp and heavy. Then he'd snap out of his light slumber after a minute or two, and stay alert for another five before drifting off again. He might have used the caffeine after all, but then again Ana would rather deal with his weight and puffing than with his fidgeting and premature tears. 

It was another two hours before a man in blue scrubs stepped into the corridor. “John Morrison?” he called. 

It was like Gabriel had been electrocuted, so fast he snapped out of his dozing and stood up, Ana close behind him. 

“Yes!” Gabriel answered. “I'm his husband, Reyes, Gabriel. What's the news?” 

The doctor flipped a small stack of papers on a writing board. It took only two or three seconds, and Ana just had the time to put her hand on Gabriel's arm to ground him for one moment longer. 

“Mr. Morrison suffered several broken bones, severe internal bleeding and a concussion. His left lung was punctured and we suspect kidney damage, but we managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize him. He's asleep now,” the doctor summarized.

Both Ana and Gabriel let out deep sighs of relief and all strain left them so suddenly they shook a bit. Gabriel wobbled on his feet and had to take a side-step to keep himself in balance, and dragging his hand down the side of his face whispered “thank God”. Ana grasped at her chest to quiet her pounding heart. 

The doctor let them have their little moment of pure relief before continuing: “The operation was long and difficult, I've never encountered anyone so resistant to anesthesia in my whole career. A long recovery awaits him and we'll keep him in intensive care at least for a few days, but other than that the most we can do for him now is to give him painkillers and let him rest.”

Gabriel nodded impatiently, waiting for the doctor to finish before hopefully asking: “Can I see him?” 

The doctor gave him a tired yet empathetic look, considering the request for a moment before replying: “He's not conscious, but if you insist – “

“I really do,” Gabriel interrupted. 

“He's in a pretty bad condition.”

Gabriel managed a dry laugh. “I'm a war veteran, I can handle it.”

The doctor flipped the pages on the board and shrugged. “Right this way then.”

 

Jack shared a room with another patient and there was already a nurse on duty so the doctor bid them good evening after advicing them to talk to the ward's head nurse about future visitation arrangements before leaving. 

Just seeing Jack there and alive was a relief but Ana couldn't really bring herself to look directly at the tubes hooked into his arm or the blue and purple swelling of his arm and the side of his face even though his face was almost completely hidden under linen patches and an oxygen mask. Fresh clean bandages together with the pale blue sheets, white covers and the giant fluffy hospital pillow under his head were in stark contrast with his sickeningly bright bruises and fresh stitches, and somehow it made him look even worse than he had been when she had helped to drag him away from the field. 

Gabriel didn't even stop to stare, just snatched the closest stool reserved for the visitors by the door and carried it with him as he rushed to Jack' bedside and sat down as close to him as he could, his knees jammed against the metal bed frame and his chin resting on the sidebar. 

“Hi there, Jackie,” he managed a rasping whisper, “it's Gabe, I'm here now. You really scared me for a moment there, darling. Almost thought you'd leave me behind.” 

Ana watched them for a moment in silence before fetching a stool for herself too and taking it to the other side of Jack's bed, next to the beeping monitors reassuringly showing his steady vitals. She watched Jack's chest rising and falling with his deep breaths and courteously kept her gaze just slightly away from Gabriel's face and ignored his occasional wet sniffles. 

“Hello from me too, Jack,” Ana said when Gabriel fell silent. “You wouldn't believe how long these people kept us waiting! How hard can it be to put on some bandages and sew a few stitches?” 

On the other side of the bed Gabriel chuckled. His laugh was stuffy and weak from relief, but it was light and genuine, and Ana spared a look for him, taking in his tear-stained cheeks, shining eyes and the anxious and adoring pursing of his mouth. He looked like he was dying to do something, to help or comfort the other in some way but too afraid of hurting him to actually do much of anything.

Finally Gabriel inched his hand over the bedside and reached for Jack's hand on top of the covers, touching his fingers very lightly on the back of it, avoiding the scraped knuckles and covering his wrist instead. 

“Rest easy, Jackie, I'll be here until they kick me out,” Gabriel promised him while lightly petting the back of his hand. “And then I'll just come back as soon as I can, I don't care what anyone has to say about that, I'm staying here with you as long as it takes for you to get out, darling.”

“I'm sure they'll let you take some time off. Anyone can see that even if they managed to drag you back to base your thoughts would be here all the same. That's no condition to be working in,” Ana noted with a slight smile. 

“You hear that, Jackie?” Gabriel said. “Ana thinks it's totally alright for me to skip work! I might even land paid leave for family reasons.”

“Well, whatever you do you should get a change of clothes for yourself before you move here permanently,” Ana said while eyeing Gabriel's current attire. “You're breaking uniform code.”

Gabriel made a face at her. “I'm sure they'll forgive me, I left in a hurry after all. Something about my spouse being under the surgeon's knife after getting knocked into a wall by a damned Talon operative and his mitten of mayhem.” 

Ana chuckled and grinned. “Keep that up and Jack will laugh himself back to health.”

Ana returned to active duty the very next day and filled in more or less for both Jack and Gabriel. Things weren't that hectic at the moment and Reinhardt proved to be a big help in running things, but she also knew she would start to feel the strain in a week tops, and she hoped for a positive change in Jack's condition before that point. He certainly wasn't an ordinary person but not even he could just walk away after injury like this one in a week. What he could do at least was to wake up and assure Gabriel he wouldn't suddenly drop dead just because he left his bedside for a little while. 

Jack stayed in the intensive care unit for two days and was then transferred to the regular ward, and that freed his visiting hours quite a bit and allowed Gabriel to actually settle at his bedside and not leave the room. Ana ushered him back to his apartment to shower once or twice, but other than that Jack didn't seem to ever be alone even though he was kept so heavily medicated that he wasn't awake virtually at all. 

Five days after the incident Ana had the time to visit the hospital again, and she decided to do a supply run while she was at it and picked up Gabriel's laundry, packed lunches for both of them and bought a fresh smoothie from a café on the way. 

When she arrived both men were asleep, Jack in his bed and Gabriel slumping down on a chair next to him, a Spanish textbook open on his chest and his head tipped back in a way that had to be causing cramps in his neck. 

Ana dropped the bag with clean clothes on a free chair, startling Gabriel awake. He snapped straight in his chair and immediately groaned, gripping his neck with a pained expression while fumbling for the book threatening to flop on the floor. 

“Wha – Oh, hi. What's the time?” he croaked while his hand slipped from his neck to rub his eyes.

“Almost seven,” Ana replied. “I brought you clothes – “ she gestured at the bag, “ – and a snack.” She passed the smoothie to him, and after blinking at the offered cup for a moment of confusion Gabriel accepted it. 

“Thanks,” he simply said and drank through the straw for a long moment. 

Meanwhile Ana took a look around the room, taking in the flowers and greeting cards piled on a plastic table in the corner, the empty coffee cups and plastic wrappings from sandwiches, wraps and bagels next to them and overflowing from the trash can, scattered books and magazines and a black woolen blanket with embroidered gray roses in it spread over Jack's middle, clearly not from the hospital. 

“You look terrible,” Ana noted to Gabriel while cleaning the empty coffee mugs from the flower table and stuffing paper wrappings into them. “How are you doing?”

Gabriel closed the textbook and threw it at the foot of the bed, cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. “Fine, fine. He's doing okay too, he's sometimes awake and I think he understands me when I talk to him.”

“Oh? That's great,” Ana said with a smile. She threw the trash into the bin before walking to the bed and taking a seat next to it. “Hello, Jack, it's Ana. Please get well soon, it's really tiresome to do all your work, especially when that includes feeding your husband.” 

Gabriel laughed, hoarse and listless, and Ana smirked like a cat at him. “You know you miss his cooking,” she teased. 

Gabriel rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms and grinned. “I do. I miss everything. Like sleeping horizontally, for example. My back is killing me.”

“Perhaps you should nap in the corridor instead,” Ana suggested. “Or just go home for a while. I could stay for the night if you want to – “

“No,” Gabriel said simply. His voice was soft but he said it with such finality that Ana knew arguing would be useless. “I'll stay here. He wakes up every now and then and I like to be here and help him. The nurses said it's good for him.” 

Ana hummed. “Indeed?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel said. “They said that I should keep talking to him, so I started to read to him. I thought we'd get some studying done while we're here.” He nodded at the textbook lying on the covers. “Or at least I could, I doubt he'll remember any of the things I've talked about, heh.”

“Well, he might,” Ana suggested, turning to look at Jack again. “If he can hear you I bet you get through to him. He likes listening to you.” She studied Jack's features while she talked and concluded he was much easier to look at now. Most of the swelling had gone down, and even though there was an angry cut in his brow and half of his face seemed to be one big bruise, he didn't gleam with sweat anymore and healthy colour had returned to his skin. 

As she watched him he stirred, and Ana's heart jumped. A single crease appeared between Jack's eyes, his eyes fluttered and a second later cracked open. 

“Jack,” Ana breathed out and leaned forward. He didn't seem to have the strength to fully open his eyes, the one under the cut in his brow drooping a bit more than the other, but his gaze still searched and focused, he blinked and finally locked eyes with Ana. Ana felt a helpless bright smile spreading on her face and a sudden sting in her eyes. 

“Hi,” she said. Her voice came out soft and high and terribly relieved. On top of worrying she had missed him. 

The corner of Jack's mouth tugged upwards a little, not enough to actually be a recognizable smile but Ana responded just the same. 

The moment he noticed that Jack was awake Gabriel straightened up and leaned on the very edge of his seat. “Jackie,” he called and reached out to brush his knuckles against his cheek, and instinctively Jack's eyes focused on him. 

A warm smile bloomed on Gabriel's face as he pet his cheek. “Hi, baby. See, I'm still here, I haven't left for a second. Come on, let's drink some water, shall we?” He reached for the bedside table where there was a tall plastic glass half full of water and a straw, and Ana watched as Gabriel helped the straw between Jack's lips and helped him take slow, weak gulps of water. 

“He's telling the truth you know,” Ana said to Jack as he drank. “He really hasn't gone anywhere, even though he maybe should have. At this rate he'll get a bed in the next room when his back muscles give out all at the same time because he insists on sleeping in that chair.”

“Nonsense, this is nothing! I have slept in foxholes, ruins without a roof, plane husks...” Gabriel recited in a carefree manner that made Jack grin around the straw. “And besides, I couldn't sleep anywhere else. Not when you're not there.” 

The straw fell from Jack's lips, and Gabriel set the almost empty glass back on the table.

Jack coughed and managed to make a comment with his tired and raspy voice: “Cute.”

Gabriel seemed to physically brighten at the word. “Damn right I am.”

Ana hid a laugh into a cough behind her hand. 

Gabriel leaned his chin on the sidebar of the bed and peered down at Jack. “You'll be out of here soon, darling, I know it. And we'll get right back into the fight together, you hear me? I won't go without you and I won't let you go without me. And when we fight Talon next time, I swear to God and Jesus and Holy Mary that I will make the bastard who put you here a wet stain on a wall – “

“Gabriel! That is not helpful right now!”

*

It was a dark and surprisingly cold night in Numbani when Reaper stood outside the prison grounds and waited. The wind was blowing hard and raising the sand and pulling at his coat, but he didn't mind. Today's assignment was an easy one, he just needed to get the transport where it was requested and he was already here, well ahead of schedule. 

Something about Numbani rubbed him the wrong way but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. Maybe it was how fast and well it had recovered from the Omnic Crisis, rebuilt and reached harmony with humans and omnics living together as if nothing horrid had ever happened, maybe it was just a strange place with energy that seemed to reject someone like him so absolutely the earth under his boots felt scorching. In the end Reaper didn't really care, he was here on a job and feeling comfortable wasn't a part of it. 

But why was he here anyway? Someone, anyone else, would have done just fine. It wasn't like his skills were particularly needed nor did he fly the shuttle. It wasn't exactly convenient either, so Reaper suspected a set of personal reasons. Perhaps this was a show of strength and importance to the rest of Talon, perhaps it was to underline the importance of this particular event in the grand scheme of things, perhaps it was just a terror tactic meant for the public. Or, not completely unlikely, this was an ego trip for Ogundimu who wanted to show who was in charge here and put Reaper in his place. Maybe he wanted to yank his leash a bit just for the sake of it, it wouldn't be reaching to say that Ogundimu would like to do that to someone who was a formidable former enemy. 

The reason for him being on this assignment might have been one of those, any combination of them, or something completely different he just didn't understand yet, but Reaper had already quietly concluded that it didn't matter to him. 

_Use me all you like. Yank my leash, show off,_ he thought, _you're playing into my hands as well._

An alarm finally went off in the west wing of the prison complex and quickly alerted the rest of it too. Searchlights lit up and started to sweep the grounds, something Reaper had expected to happen already; they were lagging behind. 

He couldn't bring himself to care about that either. Ogundimu had probably taken his time to do something self-indulgent or made his escape more difficult than it needed to be, and Reaper snorted at the thought. Not that he didn't appreciate a well constructed public image, but all of this felt so mundane to him as he was now. All of it did. Talon, Vishkar, Overwatch... All of them tried to achieve something great, something larger than life and extend their own mortal limits. They all wanted to change the world and mold it according to their vision, to pass down some grand legacy they thought would make them immortal. 

Reaper felt the need to laugh in the face of those dreams. He knew it was all for nothing, they were all just self-important people desperate to leave a mark on the world. They might have spouted whatever grand words they wanted and told everyone and themselves that they were ambitious and strong, that they were after a brighter future and immortality, but Reaper knew that deep down they were all motivated by fear. 

They were all afraid of how insignificant they were, how puny their lives, choices and ideas were. They were all terrified of their own mortality. They were like children scared of the knowledge that they would die, and now they scrambled around the world, begging it to remember them. 

It was as hilarious as it was pathetic. Reaper had long ago transcended thinking like that. He had stepped down into the shadows long before he had actually died, and after that he had given up his face and his name altogether. He didn't mind the agendas others pushed, he didn't care who he fought for or how the world shifted around him, the flow of history would eventually just correct itself like a river in a canyon, and all the people who now so desperately wanted to leave that mark would ultimately fail. 

Reaper on the other hand was after something far better, something that was valuable only to him and thus he was simply allowed to reach for it since no one realized how much it meant. Ogundimu probably thought that Talon was using Reaper when it was actually the other way around, it was just in such a way that someone like Ogundimu would never understand, wouldn't even think of considering it. He wanted for the whole world to see and remember him and that was the scale he had chosen. He could never understand Reaper’s world. 

There were security cameras around the premises, and Reaper stepped just slightly out of the shadows and into the light, turning his face right towards one of them. The prison was in full on red alert, but the cameras seemed to be automated and this one spotted his movements and focused its lens on him. Sombra would no doubt leak the images and tomorrow morning a clear black and white image of him would be all over the news, and it wasn't like Reaper could be mistaken for anyone else.

_Hello, Jack_ he mused in his mind as he peered at the camera, tilting his head and imagining the light reflecting from the white of the skull. _I know you're looking for me. Do you see me now?_

Jack and Ana had joined forces again, just like in the old days. So many dead people were still walking around that sometimes Reaper wondered if he had actually passed on from the world of the living into a strange in-between space where he was to solve the grievances of his life before he was allowed his rest. Perhaps Ana and Jack were looking for peace as well, and what they wanted was to reach out to him.

Fools. 

If their peace required pacifying Reaper they were reaching for the impossible, as for Reaper to get his peace was to torture them both as much as possible. He was here to bleed as much heart blood out of Jack as he could imagine and drink it all until all his wounds were filled up. 

If they truly were here trying to balance the karmic scales they would be here forever, and sometimes Reaper wondered if they were already in hell. But that was impossible, he knew it in his heart of hearts as he stared into the camera and felt bright joy shimmering inside him at the thought of Jack getting his greeting soon. As long as they were in the same world it was too good to be hell. 

Reaper felt a strangling sensation in his throat when he thought about Jack, but the joy sparkled in his heart all the same, and the thought of being seen by him like this was the sweetest thing he had tasted in a while. That was the feeling he cared about, nothing else.

_Just you and I know how much this means. Just you and I know how much this hurts._

At last there was a loud grumbling noise when the thick prison wall gave out and collapsed, and Akande Ogundimu stepped out. Ogundimu had not been in a hurry nor had he apparently collected any personal belongings as he was still dressed in a prisoner's uniform and his feet were bare, and he was not in any hurry now when he calmly crossed the distance to the shuttle. 

“You're late,” Reaper noted. 

“I was delayed. Let's get going,” Ogundimu said as he strode past him and into the shuttle, and Reaper followed. 

“Tell me of the Russian mission,” Ogundimu demanded right away, immediately business-like. 

Reaper did as he was told with his usual detached cold manner as the shuttle took off. They had hours of travel ahead of them, places to be and missions to run, and there were to be no delays since Ogundimu apparently had had time to think and plan in prison and he was not about to waste any time before putting those plans in action. Still he had the time to make a smirking comment about sentimentality to Reaper, who passed it with a one-word-answer. 

And still, despite the easy reply Reaper knew he was sentimental, just not in the way Ogundimu meant. As if he could understand, the egotistical fool. He was too busy being a mortal man trembling with fear of the void and trying to leave his mark on the world to consider the truly important things.

Reaper was still thinking about Jack. His heart felt powerful and alive when he did, its pulse hot and strong and almost painful against his ribcage. 

_The world can go to hell_ , he thought wistfully. _It has nothing to do with you and I, Jackie. I will leave my mark on you._


End file.
